


Invisible Mask

by cakeengland, Night_StormCaptain



Series: Legends of the Skyways [3]
Category: Pirate101 (Video Game)
Genre: Collab, F/M, don't worry about the major character death, seriously you're not going to miss them, we're not trying to be subtle about the relationship in this one
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-01
Updated: 2018-05-24
Packaged: 2018-11-21 18:53:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,876
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11363520
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cakeengland/pseuds/cakeengland, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Night_StormCaptain/pseuds/Night_StormCaptain
Summary: Galen and Esmerelda are a pair of loners -- Galen by circumstance, Esmerelda by choice.  However, when a strange set of coincidences brings the two together time and time again, they are forced to work together to evade the psychotic pirate captain who seems to have a mysteriously powerful ally, a vendetta against Galen’s family, and the misguided belief that the way to utterly destroy him is to destroy Esmerelda.  Will the unlikely duo survive the hunt long enough to uncover the source of their enemy’s hatred?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey all! Cake and I are back with a new installment of Legends of the Skyways — new storyline, new heroes, new villains, and some old friends! As always, I'm writing the odd chapters and Cake is doing the evens.

Daring Galen Everret hated rabbits.  Most people found them cute and cuddly, but having just been tricked by one, a certain One-Eyed Jack, Galen was not feeling at all charitable toward the creatures.   _ That’s what you get for trusting someone. _

Galen slammed open the door of the Black Spot Tavern, which Jack owned, and stormed to the back where the dubious rabbit could usually be found.  Sure enough, there he was, his many earrings glinting in the half-light, his expression disgustingly smug.  “Well, if it isn’t young Everret himself! Have you come to pay back my favor?”

“That’s one way of putting it,” the young swashbuckler growled.  “That tip you gave me about the Storm Captain almost got me killed!”

One-Eyed Jack smiled and shrugged.  “I just told you the lead I heard about the legend’s whereabouts.  It’s not my fault if some sharks got there first!  You still owe me a favor.”

Galen clenched his teeth.  “You haven’t done me any favors, so I owe you nothing.  And how did you know about the sharks, anyway?”

Maddeningly, the jackrabbit was unruffled.  “Well, I could tell you, but that would count as another favor, wouldn’t it?”

Galen had had enough.  Quick as a blink, he seized Jack’s collar with his right hand and whipped out his favorite dagger with his left, holding it up to the scoundrel’s throat.  “How about you do me the favor of never speaking to me again, I do you the favor of sparing your life, and we call it square?”

Jack gulped, his single remaining eye darting about as though searching for an escape that was not forthcoming.  “Okay, okay,” he stuttered nervously.  “N-no need to b-be so d-dramatic about it…”

“So we’re square, and I’ll never have to see your ruined face again?”

“Of c-course!”

“Good.”  Galen released the rabbit, who was now thoroughly cowed, and turned to leave the tavern, when he heard a soft voice.  The room was noisy, of course, but something about the voice caught his attention.  He turned to look.

_ “Maybe he’ll listen now,”  _ said the voice’s owner, and Galen’s heart skipped a beat.  She looked to be about his age and had short, straight chocolate-brown hair that hung to her chin, framing a lovely face with large eyes the color of sapphires.  Even in a militaristic black-and-white officer’s coat with a rifle slung over her shoulder, she was breathtakingly beautiful.  She was also talking to an ostrich.

Galen made a snap decision and went over to talk to her.  “Problems with the rabbit?” he asked casually.

The girl looked thoroughly alarmed.  With a small yelp, she darted toward the curtain that separated the back of the tavern from the rest when it was closed, hiding behind it.  Her faithful pet ostrich followed, pecking confusedly at the fabric.  Galen followed as well, tentatively asking, “Is… everything all right?”

Galen waited.  No response.  After a few impatient minutes, he turned and saw the girl, now talking a little shyly to One-Eyed Jack.  He noticed that the rabbit seemed to have regained some of his swagger, and the girl seemed flustered.  Glaring at the trickster, he pulled out both of his daggers this time and drew himself up to his full height.  He had recently hit a major growth spurt and topped six feet -- his new height was taking some getting used to, but it came in handy from time to time.

His eyes fixed on One-Eyed Jack, Galen saw the exact moment the bunny noticed him -- his tall ears flattened, and he shrank back.  He and the girl exchanged a few more words; then the girl turned and made for the door.  The ostrich, which had been pecking at the curtain the whole time, followed her with a confused expression.

After being separated from his sister and friends, Galen had learned the hard way that no stranger deserved his trust, especially among pirates, but something about this girl -- something beyond her beauty, although that was a factor -- intrigued him.  Against his better judgement, he ran after her.  “Wait!  What’s your name?”

Out the door, down the hoist, and out into the crazy mess of wrecked ships that had somehow fused together to form the town of Flotsam.  The girl was fast and obviously spooked.   _ Maybe I shouldn’t do this if she’s this alarmed,  _ Galen thought ruefully, slowing his pace until the girl was out of sight.   _ Guess I’ll never know who she really was. _

A bit at a loss, Galen made for the docks.  Since his latest lead on his sister Holly had led to a dead end (almost literally), he had nothing to do and nowhere to go.  Moving at an almost leisurely pace, he passed through the gate that led to the dock area and went to board his ship.

Distracted and disheartened, he boarded the small ship with  _ Silent Falcon  _ painted on the side of the hull near the prow and headed for the captain’s wheel.  He had at first been dubious about flying a ship uncrewed, but had soon found out that the magic of ships went beyond fitting into bottles when you needed them to -- they could also be flown by a single pilot standing at the captain’s wheel.

As Galen prepared to cast off, he heard a familiar, indignant voice.  “What are you doing on my ship!?”

He recognized the girl from before, glaring up at him.  “Huh?  But this is my ship!”

“Didn’t you look at the name?” the girl complained.

“Yes, I did!” Galen protested.  “The  _ Silent Falcon. _ ”

“Exac-- wait, what?”

“What, what?”

Instead of replying, the girl took a quick look around, then pointed.  Docked on the opposite side of the pier was another ship of the same class, also with the name  _ Silent Falcon  _ painted on the side, but with Galen’s personal flag (two crossed rapiers behind a compass rose on a blue and black field) hanging limply at the top of the mast.  Galen checked the top of the mast of the ship he had been about to fly and saw a black flag with a grey and white wolf’s head on it.  “Oh.”

Sheepishly, he stepped away from the wheel and descended to the deck to face the girl who apparently owned the ship.  “Sorry about that,” he said, hoping he wasn’t blushing.

The girl laughed uncomfortably but said nothing.  Galen tried again to get a response.  “So, um… what’s your name?

“Why do you want to know?”  It sounded less like a challenge and more like confusion that anyone would care to ask her.  Galen’s heart melted a little.

“I-I’m not actually sure,” he confessed.  “I just… I saw you in the Black Spot and just felt like you could be someone I would want to know.”

“Oh.”  The girl didn’t seem particularly pleased or especially disappointed; she just seemed to want him gone.  Galen could respect that.  He turned to leave, but then he noticed something on her person he simply  _ had  _ to ask about.

“Is…that a  _ cat  _ sticking out of your jacket?”

_ “Mew.”   _ Sure enough, there was a tiny cat poking its fuzzy little head out of the girl’s jacket.

“Can I pet it?”  Galen started to reach forward, then stopped, not wanting to invade the girl’s space.

“Him,” the girl corrected.  “His name is Tickles.”

_ So you’ll tell me your cat’s name but not yours?   _ Clicking his tongue, Galen held out a hand toward Tickles to let him sniff.  To his surprise, the cat burst from the girl’s jacket, flapping a pair of feathery wings to fly toward the startled boy.  Something seemed wrong, though; the tiny animal’s flight seemed erratic, and he tumbled ungracefully into Galen’s arms.

“Tickles!” the girl exclaimed.  “What are you doing?”

Sitting up in Galen’s arms, Tickles twitched his ear and flicked his tail at her -- he almost seemed to be  _ talking _ to her, in his own feline way.  As he moved, Galen noticed that his right wing seemed a little stiff.  Taking a closer look, he found that it seemed bent at an odd angle compared to the other wing, many of the feathers were rumpled or torn, and there was a bloody scar near the joint.  “Poor friend,” he murmured, stroking the cat’s head.

“Oh,  _ fine,”  _ the girl said, leaving Galen confused.  “My name is Esmerelda Yveson, and Tickles likes you, so I’ve decided to trust you.”

“Smart cat,” said Galen jokingly, at which the cat in question began to purr.  “Can he understand what we’re saying?”

Tickles purred louder.  “That would be a yes,” said Esmerelda proudly.  “He’s no ordinary cat.”

“Evidently,” Galen agreed, eyeing Tickles’ wings.  He winced at the obvious damage to the cat’s right wing.  “He seems a little worse for wear.”

Esmerelda’s face fell.  “He got attacked by a Skarakeet,” she explained.  “I’ve been trying to find someone who can heal him, but the supposed pet doctor One-Eyed Jack directed me to turned out to be nothing but a scam artist.”

Galen scowled.  “Figures.  But, you know, Sam Feathers over in Scrimshaw is a miracle worker with every kind of animal you can think of, and he’s no scam artist -- if he’s still there after all these years, I’m sure he can help Tickles.”  He gently handed the cat back to Esmerelda.

Her face brightened.  “Really?  Thank you!”

“You’re very welcome.”  Galen swept off his hat, a dramatically wide-brimmed affair with an enormous blue feather, and took a bow.  He began to leave, but Esmerelda stopped him.

“One last thing.  What’s  _ your  _ name?”

“Oh, it’s Galen Everret.  And it was a pleasure to meet you, my lady.”  She made no reply, so he strolled off down the gangplank, humming to himself.   _ I hope we meet again. _


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written by Cake, with Night writing Evelyn's introduction.

“Galen was really nice, huh?” Esmerelda murmured, softly petting Tickles’ head. Her kitty gave an affirmative purr, butting his head into her palm.

Carefully nestling the tiny cat into her pocket, Esmerelda made her way back to her ship, thinking about the strange but kind boy who had directed her to Sam Feathers. He had been right- the doctor really was some kind of miracle worker, and had healed up Tickles’ broken wing with no problems.

She left her thoughts wander as she began to steer her ship to the little island near Jonah Town in which she lived. The island was lush and fertile, and had a small two-story house Esmerelda had fixed up and made her own. That wasn’t what had drawn her to the place, though. Rather, it was her animal friends. Esmerelda brought animals who were injured back to her sanctuary island to recover, and while she was no doctor, she liked to think she was fairly good at this task.

The only animals who stayed permanently were Tickles, who she’d helped get down from a tree when she lived in MooShu, and Mister Minnie, her ostrich who had simply taken to following her around one day.

As she docked, a young sky dragon lifted his head to greet her. She giggled, giving his scaly head a scratch. “Hello, Puff,” she smiled. “Did you miss me?” In response, the dragon let out a puff of smoke, the trait that had gotten him his name.

Puff trailed after Esmerelda as she made her way up to the trail leading to her house, stopping to put out some carrots for her bunnicorn, Floppy. After a moment, the strange hybrid creature hopped awkwardly out of the bushes to snack on the treat.

A fennec fox, Rascal, was curled around Quillina the hedgehog on the porch, napping. Esmerelda smiled as she passed the two friends, pushing open the door to her house and entering the living room. Immediately, a heckhound ran up to her, putting his paws  on her leg and giving her enthusiastic licks.

“Alright, Fuzz, I’ll give you a treat,” the musketeer laughed, reaching into her pouch and drawing a small bone-shaped dog treat. She tossed it to Fuzz, who caught it in his jaws and raced off to enjoy it.

Finally, a small dinolizard wandered up to her, looking at her with wide, innocent eyes. She reached down to scoop the tiny critter into her arms, climbing up the stairs to her bedroom. “What story would you like to hear today, Yapper?” she asked the dinolizard, who gave his signature yap in response. “Rapunzel? You must know it off by heart by now.”

He gave a few more yaps and Esmerelda smiled, putting him down on her bed and grabbing a picture book off the shelf. “Alright, if you’re so sure.” She opened the book, Yapper nestling against her chest. “Once upon a time, there was a girl named Rapunzel, who had magic golden hair that was miles long…”

* * *

Closing the storybook, Esmerelda smiled at Yapper, who had fallen asleep. “Sleep tight,” she whispered, getting up carefully so as to not disturb her slumbering friend. She made her way downstairs, only to discover that all her animal friends were inside, hiding in terror.

Confused, Esmerelda made her way to the door and opened it. Suddenly, she understand what had the animals so spooked.  The most alarming pirate she had ever seen stood on her doorstep, clutching a pair of short, wicked-looking swords. Though she couldn’t have been much older than Esmerelda, she towered over her, glaring down at her through unnatural-looking blood red eyes.  Her skin was an unhealthy ashen color, and her wild hair was stark white. Her presence was so unnerving that Esmerelda almost didn’t see the second pirate standing a bit behind her, covered from head to toe except for their harsh green eyes.

“Who are-” Esmerelda started to ask, but the pirate in front interrupted her.

“Everret is a friend of yours, then?”  Her voice was cold and rang hollow, as if the person speaking had long since given up on life.  “Tell me where he hides and I’ll consider sparing your life.”

Esmerelda took a step back.  “Wha-- you mean Galen?”

“That’s right.”

“I honestly don’t know,” Esmerelda replied, trying to keep her voice steady.  “Who are you? What do you want?”

“I am known as Dark Evelyn, and this is my first mate, Silent Ivy.  And I want every weakling in the Everret family to die at my hands. Now, I repeat my question: where does he hide?”

Esmerelda took another step back, now thoroughly unnerved.  She could hear frightened squeaks and snuffles coming from behind her, and the thought of protecting her charges stiffened her resolve.  “I told you, I don’t know! I only met him today!”

“Is that so?” Evelyn sneered.  “I suppose I’ll have to take your word for it - this time.  But if I find you’ve lied to me, I assure you, you won’t hear us coming.  Your final sensation will be one of shock as Ivy’s blade finds your heart and mine meets your throat.”  She turned on her heel and headed toward the tiny dock. “Ivy, the  _ Lich.” _

The figure in black withdrew a bottle from somewhere within her clothes, uncorking it to release an ornate black galleon.  From its mast flew a flag that depicted a compass rose in flames. Esmerelda could only watch as Evelyn and Ivy boarded and flew away from the island she had thought of as her safe haven.   _ Maybe not so safe anymore.   _ For what may have been the first time, she locked the door and closed all the shutters, then gathered all her animals to her.  They all needed to feel a little safer after the strange encounter.

She spent some time soothing them, reading them stories and allowing them more treats than usual. “I’m going to go visit Ol’ Fish Eye, okay?” she whispered soothingly, petting Fuzz as she did so. “Maybe he’s heard of those awful girls. If not, he can train me so I can protect you all from them.”

There was a chorus of sad whines as she stood up, but Esmerelda had long figured out how to avoid the compulsion to stay with her animal friends. She headed out to where the  _ Silent Falcon  _ was docked, Tickles safely in her pocket and Mister Minnie following her as always.

She stood at the wheel as Mister Minnie removed the rope anchoring them, and set off for Skull Island.

* * *

“Esmerelda!” The mentioned pirate had barely come down the stairs before Ol’ Fish Eye was squawking at her. “Perfect timing! I need you to head over to the Swashbuckler’s Hall and visit Morgan LaFitte.”

“But-” Esmerelda began to say, but the pelican wasn’t listening.

“No buts! She and I are working on a project, and we agreed we’d sent one student each to help! Now, you’d better get there on the double!”

Resigned, Esmerelda climbed back up the ladder and crossed Avery’s Court to the raccoon’s training hall. Morgan’s face lit up when she saw her.

“Ah, you must be that old pelican’s protege!” she grinned. “As I’m sure you know, I am Morgan LaFitte, swashbuckler extraordinaire. Allow me to introduce you to your companion for this task.”

She gestured to the shadows, and a tall boy with black hair emerged. That wasn’t remarkable. No, what was remarkable was the fact that Esmerelda  _ recognized  _ this pirate.

“Galen?”


End file.
